


Sending Him off to Battle

by TheSpyder



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24556198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpyder/pseuds/TheSpyder
Summary: Written for the Harmony Discord Drabble Prompt: Confessions before the start of the 1st event of the Tri-WizardAlso my scene continuation because I wanted to try my hand at writing my take on Harry against a dragon.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 51
Collections: HMS Harmony Discord Drabbles





	1. Chapter 1

A day late, but this came to me this morning.

A Pep Talk

‘Viktor Krum has secured his egg!’

Harry felt his nerves increase at the announcement, it would not be long before it would be his turn. He wasn’t able to dwell on the thought long, because it seemed like moments after the announcement the flap at the back of the tent was thrown open.

Harry stood up from his chair on instinct, and was shocked to see Hermione rushing toward him.

‘Hermione! What ar... mmph’

Harry was cut off by by Hermione grabbing the front of his jacket and crashing her lips to his. He was in shock, his arms at his sides not knowing what to do in this startling turn of events.

He stood there dumbfounded as Hermione pushed him away, but kept a vice like grip on his jacket. She was breathing heavy, and was staring at him with a fierceness and determination.

‘Hermione! What wa...’

‘Something I have been thinking about doing since first year,’Hermione said softly with a smirk ‘Now shut up, we don’t have much time. I know your nervous.’

Harry nodded in agreement, his eyes fixed on her. Intently aware of Hermione holding him close. 

‘The other champions are older than you, know more magic than you. That you shouldn’t even be in this stupid contest.’

Again Harry was nodding as Hermione continued to talk. He watched her head dip, breaking eye contact briefly while running her tongue over her bottom lip, before looking back at him intensely.

‘I once told you that you were a great wizard, and that is even more true today then it was then. So while they are older; they have not banished a horde or dementors, slew a basilisk, faced a dark lord...’ Hermione told him before her eyes became momentarily soft ‘or a saved a girl from a troll for that matter.’

Hermione’s took on a look of a determination, ‘You may be nervous, but you can do this. You are the best flyer I have ever seen, even though it scares me at times. Get on your broom and you got this.’

‘Now go out there and beat your dragon,’ Hermione continued looking down briefly ‘And if you didn’t mind, I find what we did earlier rather enjoyable and wouldn’t mind finding a broom closet after this.’

With that Hermione turned around and walked out of the tent.

Harry stood there dumbfounded as his name was called. Then he smiled, he a dragon to beat and Hermione who wanted to drag him into a broom closet afterwards.

Fin


	2. Chapter 2

Desperate Time, Desperate Measures: a sequel to Pep Talk

Hermione looked on in horror as a massive Hungarian Horntail strained against its heavy chains, the dragon looking to deal with the perceived threat to her eggs. Harry made a dive on his broom towards the clutch of eggs, but had to swerve abruptly, narrowly escaping death from the snap of the dragon’s giant maw. Hermione reflexively closed her eyes in fear at the reverberating sound the Horntail made snapping its mouth shut in the attempt to make a snack of her best friend.

‘Stupid dragon, stupid death tournament, stupid wizards for creating a death tournament in the first place!” Hermione thought fiercely, in a oft repeated mantra since she the beginning of the event. Then uncharitably she added, “Stupid Harry and his unbelievably stupid luck!”

Then on cue, as if provoking the universe, Hermione heard the groan and snap of chains, and her eyes flew open to verify that the nightmare was indeed going to get worse. The world seemed to pause as the dragon roared its triumph and made a beeline towards Harry, who was thankfully far enough away and up, to not be in imminent danger at the turn of the events. Still Hermione swore she could see Harry’s eyebrows rise to his hairline and eyes widen in fear at what had just taken place.

In that moment though, Hermione had never been more happy that her and Harry’s brains were wired differently. If it were her, she would be momentarily frozen thinking through her options and what magic she could use to aid her, losing precious seconds to a threat that needed no forethought.

Harry though reacted instinctually to situations, so while he may be rightfully fearing for his life, she saw his green eyes narrow and hands tighten on his Firebolt in response to the challenge. Fluidly he maneuvered the broom around and flew away from the rampaging dragon, dipping downward briefly before shooting up to and passing over the stands, right over the judges box and out of the arena.

As Harry passed over the judges, Hermione sighed in relief as she watched Dumbledore raise his wand, surely deciding to intervene and rescue Harry now that the situation was getting further out of the hand. However her hopes were summarily squashed as Dumbledore waved his wand in intricate swishes and flicks, at first at Harry and then the large black dragon as they passed overhead. The dragon flying low enough to make some of the spectators in the box duck and cower.

Hermione’s mouth dropped open in astonishment and outrage as the result of Dumbledore’s spells materialized. In the middle of the arena an almost translucent window appeared, the size of a Jumbotron in sport stadiums, and the image of Harry chased by a dragon displayed on the screen.

Hermione dug her nails painfully into the wooden bannister and wanted to scream as everyone else in the arena cheered and roared their approval at not having to miss a moment of the bloodsport. That their revered headmaster knew such tricky and obscure magic as to give them such a wondrous gift. She was torn between whether she wanted to hex Dumbledore for not seeing sense and stepping in, or her fellow Gryffindors around her that were cheering their housemate’s possible violent death.

She gritted her teeth as she heard Fred and George taking new bets with the unexpected change of events. Knowing it would do no good to rant and rave at her fellow classmates, Hermione focused her attention to the screen and on Harry flying for his life. Absurdly she thought this wasn’t the worst situation for him to possibly be in, she hadn’t lied to him when she impulsively went to him in the tent before the start, he was the best she had ever seen on a broom. If anybody could outfly an enraged Hungarian Horntail, it would be Harry Potter.

In her periphery, she noted the other champions coming out of the medical tent. Probably drawn out by the roars of the Horntail and rapturous cheering of the entire arena. Cedric looked nauseous at the sight on the screen, Miss Delaclour put a hand over her mouth horrified, and Krum looked grudgingly impressed by the adept display of flying.

Hermione focused on the screen, watching as Harry weaved back and forth up and down, making sure never to be in the same spot in case the dragon decided to try spitting fire his way. At least it looked like the dragon was not able to gain much ground on Harry, thanks to the unmatched speed of the Firebolt. Hermione decided to hug Harry’s godfather for gifting Harry such a broom next time she saw him, the irony not lost on her given the events of the prior year.

At this point Harry had reached the castle, and started a weave around the turrets and towers, looking to lose the dragon with quick and tight turns. ‘Clever Harry, use the dragon’s bulk and the mechanics of its wings against it.’ Hermione thought happily and rising up and down on her toes in her nervousness for him.

Sadly Harry’s ploy did not bear fruit, and as Harry weaved around the last tower the dragon may have gotten even closer to him somehow. She saw Harry look back from his broom and realize the reality of his predicament, taking note of his shoulders slouching and head dipping in disappointment and defeat.

Harry’s despondency and seeming acceptance of his bleak fate nearly brought her to tears. ‘No! Come on Harry, think of something! This is what you do, survive and escape despite impossible odds! I believe in you Harry, come on!’

She was broken out of her frantic thoughts as she noticed everyone around her, in fact the whole arena had gone deathly quiet. At first Hermione was confused at why they were acting in such a manner, then she heard it. Hermione had been so focused on watching the chase between Harry and the Horntail, she had seemingly turned off her hearing. Relegating it as unimportant.

So she had missed the beginning of a coughing, wheezing like sound, as if someone was struggling to get enough air. That odd sound gave way to a low chuckle, accompanied by the straightening of Harry’s shoulders and posture into a more resolute and confident manner. Hermione watched on astonished as Harry’s head rose from looking at the ground far below him and back to stare at his monstrous adversary, and then he deliriously started cackling.

“He’s gone mad! Must realize he’s done for.” Ron exclaimed next to her and Hermione felt the urge to punch him. Abandoning Harry ever since the Goblet, and now saying such a thing! Unfortunately her opinion was a solitary one, people agreeing with Ron having similar observations of their own.

These people didn’t know Harry like she did, yes she would admit his behavior was a bit strange, but Harry would not give up like this. ‘No, when Harry’s back was up against the wall like this, and out of options, he would do something... reckless and stupid.’ Hermione groaned at the thought.

In tune with her thoughts, Harry threw back his head and laughed louder and more maniacally, raising his broom and darting higher into the air. Finally the crazed laughter stopped as Harry began his sharp vertical climb into the clear blue sky, looking back every few seconds. Seemingly now wanting his dragon to continue the pursuit of him.

About half a minute of continuously climbing into the sky, Hermione thought Harry was flying higher than she had ever seen him do so. In fact, she tried to recall her muggle science courses and whether Harry was now at a height where the air would be substantially thinner? Finally Harry had reached his apparent zenith, and abruptly flipped his Firebolt and him 360 degrees, and started racing straight downward.

Incredulously Hermione watched as Harry took a hand off his broom, and reached into his robe to retrieve his wand. Then as he passed in his sharp descent, Harry shot a stinging hex right between the eyes of the Horntail. Essentially spitting into the beast’s eye

‘Why would he do something so pointless and stupid?!’ Hermione thought furiously. They had gone over dragons’ strengths and weaknesses in depth, and knew a dragons’ hide was too magically resistant to any spell he could have learnt by the task. ‘All that hex will do is just make the dragon even more angry!’

Which is exactly what happened, the Hungarian Horntail bellowing out a roar of furious rage. White hot blue flames shot from its mouth, thankfully not downwards towards Harry, but in reaction to the disrespect shown by the flying wizard. The dragon immediately turned itself around and launched itself downward at Harry, looking for retribution at the egregious insult.

Hermione saw the dragon tuck its massive wings to its sides, making it faster and more aerodynamic in the pursuit of its prey. Watching the dive of wizard and dragon, Hermione could not puzzle out whatever ludicrous and utterly insane idea Harry had concocted this time. What did he hope to gain by racing his dragon to the ground?

‘No bloody way! You don’t think... do you Fred?’ George mused to the quieting arena as the seemingly end to the chase was upon them.

‘I do believe you have the right of it George. Our Harrykins, seeker extraordinarie that he is, is about to try his more daring feat yet!’

Hermione paled at the words and their implications. She had been witness to almost all of Harry’s heart attack inducing flying performances, for Fred and George to make such an observation...

She turned to Ron, who was watching open mouthed in stunned amazement, and fixed him with a glare that promised pain. “Explain!”

Ron gulped, but kept his eyes on Harry and the dragon’s race towards the ground, “The Wronskei Feint. Harry is going to try to Wronskei Feint a Hungarian Horntail!” At Hermione’s still expectant look he hurried on, “It was the move Krum did at the Cup, you know the one where he made the other seeker crash into the ground.”

Hermione’s eyes widened in horrified dawning realization of Harry’s asinine plan, and turned back to the screen. She remembered the maneuver at the game, at how close to the ground Krum had gotten before pulling up. Harry was an exceptional, a generational flyer, but she knew he had only seen the move once and had never practiced it. The chance of doing such a daring, complicated maneuver on his first try and in such circumstances!

She briefly caught sight of Krum also watching the screen, she could see from his expression that he knew what Harry was on about. At Krum’s shocked expression, well shocked for the stony faced Bulgarian, Hermione felt a bit of pride in Harry for having the gall to do what apparently a professional seeker would balk at. That pride was immediately squashed by furious worry as Harry was now 30 ft from the ground and not showing signs of slowing, the dragon completely captivated with the sight of its prey it did not notice the rapidly approaching ground,

Harry fell to 25 ft, 20ft, 15 ft...

Hermione chewed her bottom lip in worry, nails digging into the rail in front of her.

At around 10 ft Harry pulled up quickly.... all of a sudden a giant black mass crashed to the ground and dirt and dust was kicked up everywhere on screen, obscuring everything from sight. Moments after the impact Hermione could hear the echoes of the booming impact of the dragon hitting the ground. The sound reaching the stadium in real time and not through the screen as it had seconds before. Impossibly Hermione thought she felt the Earth shake with the impact as well.

The arena went deadly silent again, no one knowing quite what to make of what had just taken place.

As Hermione watched desperately at the unhelpful screen, all she could think was ‘Please be alive Harry!’

HHRHHRHHR

‘What a truly momentous and thrilling event!” exclaimed Ludo Bagman to the frenzied crowd. ‘Champions to the podium please so we may give you your scores!’

As Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delaclour, and Viktor Krum took their places side by side in front of the judges, the crowd started whispering frantically to one another.

Dumbledore looked at the gathered champions in consternation and stood up, ‘Where is Harry Potter?!’

HRHRHRHR

Harry’s back slammed into the wall hard.

‘Of all the reckless, stupid, idiot stunts!’ Hermione raved, her fists clutched with handfuls of Harry’s shirt pushing him to the wall.

‘Survived didn’t I?’ Harry offered happily in response, still coming down from the adrenaline. ‘Wasn’t going to lose the chance of holding you to your promise.’

Hermione tried to glare at him, but her relief at his surviving rendered the attempt weak. ‘Shut up Harry!’ she decided on instead. Pulling Harry to her and pressing her lips passionately to his in the first broom closet they had found after slipping away from the tournament.

Fin


End file.
